Wendy and Lucy

USA 2008, 80 minutes
Dir. Kelly Reichardt
Rating: [M]
Genres: Drama / Independent

Feat. Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Will Oldham

Aroview: Michelle Williams is superb as the distraught owner of a missing dog in this unsentimental yet compassionate tale of financial hardship in Middle America.

Admirers of the director’s OLD JOY will find its muted tenor and serene Oregon milieu intact within the story’s more dismal turn of events, in which Williams’ Wendy is separated from her canine companion Lucy during a shoplifting attempt. Politically conscious without being force-fed, Reichardt’s film might be steeped in disillusionment and an all-too-familiar malaise, but strives to offset such pessimism with distinctive movie-making, where simplicity and economy (not to be mistaken for underdevelopment) are virtues that American independent cinema ought to aspire more to.

NZ International Film Festival 2009

Member Reviews

Average rating (Very Good). Showing 1-4 of 4 member reviews.

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4 stars (Very Good) Independent cinema close to its best. ~Tubbs
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5 stars (Exceptional) Beautifully shot nice length film with stunning performances all round, including from Lucy the dog, as herself. ~Haystack
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0 star (Not rated) What a breath of fresh air from an American movie maker! Truth without sentiment, a refusal to indulge in graphic detail where ugliness might have been gratuitously exploited, and hope and trust rather than a conveniently happy ending. ~Birdwing
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3 stars (Good Enough) Quiet & moving. Life as a vagrant in the Pacific northwest. Slow. Sure shows how inhospitable most Americans are, compared with most other cultures. Money is the thing that matters most, to poor or rich, its the same. A "Great Society" - yeah, right! ~Anon